The humor is essentially dark for a cartoon and sophisticated. But at the same time, being a cartoon gives the writers more freedom than in a normal sitcom. It always pushes the line that, despite human failings, the Simpsons are really decent people. – Dan Castellaneta
I do not pretend to know precisely what is on foot there but I think it pretty evident that there is a very free communication between that country and this body, and unless I am greatly mistaken, I see the dwarfish medium by which that communication is kept up. – Benjamin F. Wade
